Story: Masks of Deception, Chapter 2
Disclaimer: I don't own Durarara!
Reviews to replies-
To unknown(guest): I'm glad to be the one to inspire you. I too have gotten into many pairings and began loving characters becuase of fanfiction, and doing research and just giving things a chance. Ouran High School Host Club is an example of something I pushed through, and in the end, I really don't regret it, so you're right. Thank you for giving me a chance! It's very hard to write for Shinra at times, so I hope it's good.
To Vixie96: I'm glad you took an interest, and I hope you'll stick with me on this.
To KSdees: I'm glad you took an interest in this story and I've actually been talking with a friend about this pairing and this possibilty, myself, for a while now. XD
I do hope you'll try to stick with me on it. Some of these Durarara characters are very hard to write for me(especially Izaya, Shinra, Kururi and Mairu, and some others, but my FB roleplay account Orihara Izaya-nii has kind of helped me explore Izaya's character a bit more), so the more support and followers my stories gain, I figure that I must be doing something at least somewhat right. XD
(I still get kind of irritated when people take Izaya at face value from the anime and call him a psychopath or sociopath. Truthfully, it's a complete insult to Narita's writing to dismiss him as just a psychopath and say that's simply all there is to it. To be honest, if you never got to hear Shizuo's thoughts in the anime or manga(most don't even care to read the light novels), people would probably just call him a war monger and some little child who gets angry and starts throwing around street signs and poles because he didn't get his way, but you get to hear his side and thoughts and you can sympathize with him, so people can love him. But with Izaya as apposed to the light novels, they cut out everything, and all the saddening quotes from other characters, and many other things that make him who he is(punching a telephone pole? Heck, they could make a whole OVA on it, and some of the flashbacks from the SH novels, and of the chapters of the Minidura manga and some of the scenes from the 3 Way Standoff manga about Miyoshi only makes me sadder for him. -)
If you think about it, he's one of the only people that you never hear his thoughts in the anime, such as, "Shinra will probably be mad at me if he finds out I went to meet Celty while taking the head with me."
And even book one said that Izaya wasn't even close to the type of person that would kill without batting an eyelid. It frustrates me when people say that you don't need to refer to the light novels, because what's shown in the anime is "all there is to it" and that the anime is made so you take it that way, but they're actually wrong and obviously have no clue about why books are made into movies and manga(and light novels) are made into anime. The anime and movie are usually always there to promote the original productions because it's takes a lot of time to make the animations, and they only make like five dollars a day on it(one dollar per frame and five frames perday) while minimal weige is what? Seven dollars per hour.
Sorry for that rant... I guess haters gonna hate, either way, huh?
Right, I'm glad to know that somebody understands the update thing. I'm glad to hear that you're interested!
(About Takashi's adjectives). Why thank you. Aw, it was really nothing. *bows and smirks sadistically*
Me: I love you, Haruna-chan! I wish you the best of lives with your dear Taku-chan! No matter what anybody tells you, you're doing the right thing! So have plenty of fun. *hugs Haruna*
Haruna: *smiles* Hello, do I know you?
Me: Naw, but I know you. I'm just an observer, though...
Haruna: Well, I'm glad to know you support my love Takashi and me as a pair. It makes me happy. Thank you... I'm sure Takashi would be glad to hear it, too.
Me: That he would, so have at 'em, girl!
Haruna: Still...
Me: Huh?
Haruna: You seem kind of suspicious... Should I cut you?
Me: No no! Don't! I swear I'm innocent! Look! I got you a box of chocolates to give to Nasujima-san! And some vomit inducers and cyanide as well.
Haruna: Oh... I see... Guess I can trust you after all... Too bad I can't use the cyanide because my love Takashi would die, but thank you, anyways.
Me: U-um, no problem. *smiles nervously* Well, I'll see you later.
Haruna: Alright, bye. *smiles as she skips off, singing Takashi's name, and later that evening, many terrified and unmanly screams are heard all throughout Ikebukuro.*
(Hope that was enjoyable xD and thanks again!)
To Guest (number 1): I'm glad you're following, and I hope I do keep you interested to the end! I'm glad you think so, and glad you thought is was interesting and I also hope this chapter will be just as fulfilling or at least somewhat! Thank you!
To Guest (number 2): You're welcome! Thank you for taking an interest in it! I've been wondering about it, myself for a while now, and finally decided to try write it! And Shinra is Shinra, no matter who's he with, so I would think so xD It may take some time, but gonna try to build it up to that! I've always thought it would be be funny if somebody acted like that with Izaya. I'll try to keep updating as much as my author's mind allows me too, but my other stories are waiting for me, sadly as well! T-T
And I'm glad you think so!
To Everybody(literally): I'm so thankful for all the followers I have on this(and especially the three favorites so far). It's wonderful to know that at some people are supportive of me doing this! If you happen to know any fans of Shinzaya(Don't auto to correct Shizaya, please google? -), please share this with them if you will, though you probably already would! Aside from that, I also encourage anybody who wants to write fanfictions for any of mine to do so. I'd even be glad to read them! It's not much, but that's why I often have semi timeskips for anybody who wants to do so. And am trying to keep things a tiny bit vague! Also, I do plan to have Izaya's parents make some minor appearances and since Shinra doesn't really have a mother around at all, I was thinking it'd be kind of funny if he grew a bit attached to Izaya's, but please let me know what you think!
Also I know their names and that they're traveling businessmen and that Narita did also say that their absence may have been one of the factors that shaped Izaya into who he is today(minus the significant one being Shinra as Izaya was thinking about in Volume 9), but if you do happen to know anything at all about them confirmed by Narita or any side stories, please let me know!
I found this chapter very tedious to write(because Shinra is even more complicated than Izaya in a few ways, even though I love him!). I also had trouble deciding what routes to take because I'm still not sure about where I'm going with this(what genres and type of AU this is gonna be exactly), but I did try to keep things as interesting as I could considering. Please let me know what you guys think! And as of right now, I'm going to have it in 3rd person POV more centered from Izaya's perspective for a little while, before I switch it to 3rd person POV from Shinra's and back trace a bit.
Please try stick with me?
And I can't emphasize it enough! Please share any suggestions you all have!
Anywho, onto le story~ :3
...
It was three days after Orihara Izaya had been approached by the weird bespectacled boy named Kishitani Shinra, and coincidently, that was also the last time he'd seen him.
He couldn't say he found it odd, for some students would come for self introductions and then vanish for the whole week following.
But despite this fact, he still couldn't deny the disappointment lurking and building up in his heart. Perhaps, it was because the boy had told him that he would ask to be his friend again if he turned him down. And the way he had spoke to Shinra before they departed the other day sort of expressed that he had done just that.
- "Unless... he saw through it...?"
Why wasn't he there? The boy had seemed so adament, so Izaya could only muse on it without a certain answer to his question.
Finding himself glancing at Shinra's empty desk, he was having trouble setting his priorities straight, as he wanted to just go back to observing his humans like before.
But he felt tied in between.
"He didn't seem like the type of person who would typically skip school... so did I really scare him off, after all? Doubt it, he's probably just sick... What about his head injury, though...? Did he get it checked out? It's not my problem, so why am I thinking so hard on it...?"
Izaya was not used to having friends or many personal connections with much of anybody, so he had no clue how to handle himself when it came down it. Perhaps that was one reason why he had always tried to avoid getting too close to people and stay as detached as possible in all school dealings. As such, when Kishitani Shinra had entered his life, approached him and said such strange things to him if even for a little while, it was the first time anybody had not walked off and had in fact sort of embraced his nature, he didn't know how to handle it.
It was possible he could end up hurting Shinra, and he knew he didn't want to do something like that down deep, but that was just the thing; He didn't get attached to people because he knew how humans were, yet something about him was different.
And he was also aware that there probably wasn't any reason for concern, and that he should have been able to focus on other humans right now without distraction whether the other was there or not, but once again he couldn't deny the emotion he was feeling.
- "Ah... It's 'worry'. I'm really worried..., but why? He's fine, right?"
One such encounter had thrown him off and he didn't know why.
"Hey, do you want to be friends?"
"Not intrested. Sorry."
"Ah okay, I'll just ask again tomorrow."
"He said all that as if he was definitely planning to be here... so... Did something happen? Tch... Guess he's more of a liar than I thought..." He thought, suddenly finding himself feeling irritated at the boy with no real cause, despite his knowledge that he had a whole year ahead of him and would probably even see him next week, before smiling to himself. "and I also guess he's not so much of a friend, after all, huh? I'll just have make sure to rub that in his face, too, if I see him again..., but... what if he really is hurt? I wonder if anybody else would know something..."
And just like that, with that thought in mind and standing up, he made to approach a group of some other preteens who he vaguely remembered as a some kids Shinra had been talking to on the day they did self introductions.
They seemed to be discussing after school clubs and extracurricular activities and if they should join one or create one.
"No way..." one of the girls nodded. "sports are too lame and exhausting..."
"Dude, I think we ought to be allowed to have a electronic game club with an N64 and other game consoles." a boy exclaimed.
"Clubs...?" Izaya mused. Some of the teachers had mentioned something about them. They weren't mandatory, but were optional. And as long as there were at least two people, practically any type of clubs could be formed. It wasn't that interesting to him, because he typically didn't like getting personally involved with such things and preferred to remain in the background at most when it came to school dealings. He did like school as apposed to home in many ways, but there were still things he simply refused to bother with, so the thought of forming a club, or even joining one didn't sound like something he would like very much, aside from the fact that it might end up putting him in other situations that pulled him away from doing what he liked.
"It might be nice, but I doubt they'd listen..." a girl in circular glasses who had bleached brown hair and a single mole on her left cheek near her eye sighed.
"Sadly." another boy curtly added. And that's when Izaya swallowed before taking the initiative to speak.
"Um... Excuse me?"
"Huh? What do'ya want?" The boy who had first mentioned the game club idea looked up at him bored and question. When he spoke he didn't sound particularly friendly, but not particularly rude either, just uncaring. They all looked at him in expectancy.
"I apologize for interrupting, but I was wondering if any of you have seen Kishitani-kun at school in the past few days at all?"
"Eh? Kishitani-kun...? Who's-" the boy started to ask, when he seemed to remember something. "oh, that weirdo in glasses, Kishitani Shinra...?"
"Yes." Izaya confirmed.
He glanced sideways, clasping his fingers around the back of his head. "No offense, but that guy's kinda messed up in the head. I really don't sesee why most girls seem to like him so much..., anyway... But we haven't seen him since self introductions."
"He's obviously jealous of the attention..."
"Ah, thank you..."
"Why do you want to know? I'm just curious," another girl with short hair suddenly asked Izaya. "because he was asking some weird questions about you the other day..."
"Weird questions?" the raven haired boy cocked an eyebrow a bit.
"Yeah," the other guy spoke again. "like what foods you like, your skills, and practically anything we knew about you, but we didn't know much of anything about some crap like that, so we pretty much dismissed him, but we did mention to him about some of your accomplishments in elementary school."
At hearing what his classmates were saying about Shinra, something inside Izaya suddenly grew, but he kept most of his thoughts to himself for the time being and decided that it was best to not do or say anything or even ask anything furthur that would distract him from his purpose, or make this new 'game' too easy for him to figure out.
-"Haha... no doubt, I guess Shinra might really be a stalker. If what this boy and girl are saying is true, that could narrow something down, couldn't it? Still..."
Most people would be disturbed if they found out they had a borderline stalker, but Izaya and Shinra were not like others, so Izaya was somehow only a bit surprised and humored by hearing that. Thinking back to how he odd and different Shinra had seemed when they met, he somehow didn't really doubt what they had said, even though he would have normally just dismissed it at as simple rumors had they been talking about somebody who was not Shinra. No, of course he still didn't know whether it was true or not for sure, but it still didn't answer the question he had about Shinra's absence, so he just smiled hollowly at them.
"I understand. Thank you for your help." He said, bowing a bit, and with that, he left them to themselves, regrettably knowing that there was probably nothing much he could do. He briefly considered asking the teachers, but he easily figured that they wouldn't know anymore than he did. And it had only been three days, he reminded himself, so he would just wait it out and try to let it go back to the way it was before until he saw him again.
Somewhere throughout that day, even though he'd tried to engross himself in human observation as always, he suddenly found himself bored, having seen these same reactions and expressions many times before, and that's when he remembered something.
"You can observe me all you want."
Shinra's voice rung in his head. He eventually let out a deep sigh, with a small shaky smirk, absentmindely watching two kids arguing with each other over an 'accident' involving paint ending up all over somebody's worksheet and desk.
"Really, what was that weird offer all about, anyway...? I just don't get it."
Kishitani Shinra was weird, so something told him he would probably be back.
...
The rest of the week or what little there was of it left, and the following weekend, had went by extremely uneventfully for Orihara Izaya, but on Friday he had decidedly asked around a little bit, and had managed to learn a some satisfying details about Shinra. Most of the students he had spoke with knew very few personal details and about the boy's values, but some sure had plently of various opinions about him, ranging from 'creepy', to 'a bit strange' to even 'interesting', and somehow 'mysterious', and 'noncaring'. He understood them all, but wasn't bothered by it at all.
On the other hand, he only approached the ones who he assumed didn't know Shinra very well, because once again, he only wanted so many details, and wanted to feel the blanks in slowly as he got to know Shinra, and unnecessary information would only get in the way so their opinions was really all he did ask for, mainly out of curiosity and to 'feel up the time'.
Eventually, Monday morning finally came and he was sitting back in his homeroom. He had came a bit earlier than normal today for several reasons. But while he was at it, he had bought a plate of a Japanese sushi delicacy often refered to as 'ootoro' at a market not too far off his path.
It was a type of fatty tuna which came from the belly of the tuna, or at least that's what he understood about it. He did like some other sushi, but this was one he would say he really liked above any others. He'd only had twice that he could remember, but he was sure that his opinion of it would never change.
He loved it most because it was really creamy and melted right into his mouth like he liked. "Ah. Just like I remember... Ootoro really is really best. Hey, Hiro-sensei, do you like sushi? I really love it, but especially fatty tuna~"
The teacher who was sitting in the class looked up and nodded. "Ootoro's pretty good, but I'm not a huge sashimi or fish fan or a fan of much fatty foods in general, myself. I actually prefer shrimp. Though I gotta feel kind of bad for those fish and sea creature. They live to be pray, yeah?"
"Not a lot of people think about that, ne? But that's how humans are, after all. I do suppose I'm no better, though. I do feel kind of bad and all, but it is all around us, ne? We often kill so many bugs out there, which are smaller than us and are vulnerable. A lot of us just get rid of them because they're either in the way, or they're convenient to use as bait~ Isn't that right?"
"Yes, you're pretty smart. Do all kids your age think about those little details now adays?"
Izaya shook his head. "Hahaha. You flatter me, sensei, but I'm really nothing all that special, ne? I'm sure all of us think about stuff like that at some point, but we don't do anything for the silent party, even though there some activists out there, I suppose. See, if I was really that smart, I'd probably try to do something to fix it, as we all would, am I right?"
"Hahah, well, I guess you are right about that. Anyway, enjoy your breakfast. I'm going to take care of something. If anybody asks, let them know I'll be back in a short while and that I'm in the teacher's lounge, alright?"
"Of course, I have you covered, teach, so you don't need to worry about that."
"Thank you."
He nodded and smiled. "No problem."
The teacher then let himself out of the room as he said he would, and now Izaya was left alone in the silent room.
His smile dropped somewhat, as he looked down at his plate and he sighed. "After all, all humans really are at least slightly selfish in everything they do, aren't they...? Alas, that really is all it amounts to..., ne kaa-san? Tou-san..?"
Moments later, he had just put another piece of ootoro in his mouth, when a familar voice suddenly exclaimed his first name, startling him and causing him to choke a bit on it.
It was the boy's voice which he'd secretly been hoping to hear since several days before. He turned to meet the eyes of the brunette classmate who was approaching him. He had a bandage around his head.
"Shinra... I..." Izaya started to speak before Shinra could have said anything, but was suddenly at a loss of words. Originally, he'd been planning to fuss a bit at Shinra when - if he saw him again, but now that he saw innocent looking boy again..., the frustrated words of distaste were not there now, or rather, they wouldn't come out.
And instead, it came out in the exact opposite tone than what he would have had it to had he just spoken and expressed his mind freely.
"I was wondering if you... It's like this; I-" He took a deep a deep breath and was finally prepared to say what he wanted to after gathering his thoughts, when suddenly Shinra reached out a hand and smiled, patting him on the head.
"It's fine." He said, confidently.
"Huh?" Izaya inquired, confused, and taken a back by the sudden and gentle physical contact.
"I know you didn't intend to say such mean things, and I'm not even angry at you for that, and you know why?" Shinra smiled even wider, but was somehow even more unreadable that ever.
"..." No, Izaya didn't know, but his eyes wanted to know why.
"It's because you accepted my friendship, Izaya. That really is all I care about."
"...I... It's..." Izaya wanted to deny it and felt imensly awkward at Shinra seeing right through him. He wanted to deny it but he couldn't and then said something else. "seriously..., even if I say such terrible things to you, you're 'fine'? Are you some sort of masochist or something?"
"Believe it or not, Shizuo-kun actually asked me the same thing once, except it was because he physically hurt me a couple times, whereas you yourself use words... But I told him, "I don't really care, because I know you're still a good person down deep, so I'll still be your friend.", andyou're no different in that way."
"Oh? How so?" Izaya was curious for an explanation now.
"Because you love humans." Shinra stated.
"..." Izaya was silent and would have told Shinra that his 'love' was different, and that there was obviously no connection between him and the thing with this Shizuo person, had said boy not continued speaking.
"You accept all humans, no matter who they are, and you just want to 'love' them any way you can, but you know each and every single one of them are vastly different so you don't want to exclude them. You feel like the only choice you have is to accept them for who they are and just support each and every one of their decisions no matter what it is. I bet you've thought something like, "If I save one, I have to save them all.", haven't you?"
"..."
Shinra beamed. "That in itself means that you're a good person, just like Shizuo-kun is. But you're still different from Shizuo-kun and you have your own special traits, you see?"
"Hey, Shinra..., are you some kind of psychic or something...?"
"Well," Shinra shrugged a bit. "I am pretty good at putting things together.
"I don't think that really answered my question... Ah, whatever..." Thought Izaya, before asking him where he'd been at.
"And must I even ask why you have a bandage wrapped around your head...?"
"Ah, this?" Shinra pointed at the white bandage wrap around his skull, before he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, and went onto explain it.
"My dad seemed really worried, and ended up insisting I go to the hospital. Apparently, somebody had called him and told him about my fall last Monday. They said my head was a bit swollen, so they told me to stay home for the next few days... And my dad wouldn't let me leave. I kept telling him I that I was fine! I told him that I wanted to see my friend, but he wouldn't listen! Sorry I abandoned you..." Shinra trailed off into silence eyes downcast slightly as if ashamed of something.
"No, it's fine... because it's..." Izaya, who was not used to giving comfort of any sort, didn't really know what to say, but said what he knew. "not like it was your choice, right?... I mean... what really matters is that you're here now, isn't it...?"
Then he simpered. "Of course it's not like I was actually that worried about you or anything, but I was kind of beginning to worry that you'd forgotten what you said about observing you. That was a fairly interesting offer, if I do say so myself. So I thank you~"
His smile was only slightly boastful, but he confidently tried to show that he hadn't been care, but was actually secretly appreciative of Shinra's apology, and was also trying to give him a reason to not be so upset.
Despite his thoughts the week before, he didn't know if he had actually been worried about or missed Shinra or something similar or not, but he didn't want to think too deeply into it, and wasn't even certain about much of anything within himself regarding his classmate, minus what he'd said, himself, about being interested in his offer to observe him.
But regardless, there was one thing he didn't even think to disown; the sense of comfort, ease and excitement that had formed in his heart now that Shinra was finally there.
"You're welcome." The bespectacled boy carefreely gestured, not failing to take him by surprise at all.
"You're not suppose to say 'you're welcome' to somebody who wants to use you..." Izaya and him talked a few minutes more, even though it was more just one sided from Shinra's part, until the teacher had finally reprimanded him and asked him to go and sit at his desk several times before Izaya really began to notice the stares building up and tried to tell him just what the teacher had, but in his own words.
"...Oi, why don't you tell me all about your boring visit to the hospital later? I'll be able to listen to it later, so please go sit down, Shinra..." He didn't mind getting so much attention from his humans like this, but he didn't particularly like it either, so it would probably be rather troublesome if he got in trouble on his second week of middle school. In reality, though, he truthfully only said it to see if this boy actually took his advice and would listen to him when he hadn't listened to the teacher. Apparently, he had.
"Fine, if you say so... Sorry, Hiroto-sensei." Shinra muttered slightly reluctantly, grinning a bit, as he turned back to Izaya, then the bell rang.
"...I guess it can't be helped, so I guess I'll tell you about it later?"
"If that's what you want, you had better try not to fall again, ne Shinra?" Izaya teased.
"Don't worry, I won't." Shinra replied, before finally making his way to his desk. Izaya stood up and bowed with the rest of the class as per every other morning.
Izaya still had a few pieces of Ootoro left, but he decided he'd just eat it later, and recovered it.
Even after everybody had sat back down, though, Shinra kept glancing back at Izaya and grinning. After some time passed and he still hadn't stopped glancing back, students around them were beginning to notice and were already whispering some stuff amongst themselves and rumors were already forming. Nothing that was said made it past Izaya's ears, because lest be said, Orihara Izaya was very good at hearing and picking on certain conversations when he wanted to.
"Dude, is something wrong with that boy...?"
"I don't know. He keeps glancing at Orihara like he's trying to get his attention..."
"I personally bet Kishitani just wants to disect him."
"...Hahahah."
"What...?"
"...'wasn't joking. Haven't you heard anything about his father-"
"Excuse me, you kids, is there a problem over there? If so, feel free to let me know and step outside. I'll be glad to call a staff member to sort it out." The instructor had looked up to the kids, who shook their heads, as several others stifled a laugh.
"Naw, we're fine."
"Yeah, it all suddenly sorted itself out, so there's no need to worry now, Hiro-jii-chan..." another boy, who hadn't really said much the whole time suddenly spoke up.
"I see. I'm glad to hear that, Jinchin."
There was some snickering after that, following with some grumbling from the same boy Izaya also recoginized as the one who had spoke to him the week before when asking about Shinra.
His birth name was Jintarou, but some of the other students, mostly girls, would refer to him as "Jin-kun." He was what one would call a semi-typical hotshot and class clown. His hair was dyed pitch black, minus a few large blonde highlighted sections and had two small black lines underneath the corners of his eyes coated by eyeliner. His hair was also noticably shorter and choppier on the left side of his head whereas the right side was not that extremely long, but fairly longer than most male's hair was. He wore a tyedyed hoodie with violet-blue, hot-pink, and turquoise colors, while the hoodie it's self was a sort of a cerulean. It may have looked odd, but didn't seem to mind it at all.
Coincidently, that said class-clown was also the teacher's - Hiroto's, grandson. Izaya and several others had gathered this fact right from the first day of school just by hearing their family name, Akkoyamazaki and knew he also had other older relaitives who had taken up similar, but still different, careers.
Hiroto had began teaching again, and everybody was finally quiet now.
When Shinra glanced back Izaya's way once again after several minutes, the raven haired human lover thought to himself.
"...Why did I say such strange things like that so outright...? Honestly, it's as if I'm actually being sociable or something..." The raven and everybody else was finally silent now, as Izaya was thinking back over last week and the events of today. He would probably never get Shinra and why he was influencing him like that.
"Still..."
A whole other week of observations to go, and many more left.
At that thought, he finally gave a content grin in return to Shinra's.
"...I guess this year might just be extra interesting, after all, huh~?"
~ End of Chapter
...
A/N: Again, I found this very hard to write but I did try my best considering! I swear it! XD
One other thing! I still need opinions on the supernatural thing! I think it could be interesting to write if done right, but at least let me know if you're in favor of it? And anybody who's willing to give me some ideas(heck I might could even expand from other folklore or mythical creatures, but you still have to help me), please do! You may think they're crappy, but I'm sure I can do something with them. I'm just not good about thinking up some things on my own. XD
And one other question.. About the after school clubs in the story(*cough* remember the Biology Club? *cough*)Got any good ideas for one that Izaya and Shinra might could form? Or join, I guess?